Tony
by addjoco
Summary: This a collection of short stories focusing an Antonia and her chronicle through the World of Darkness. They are ordered chronologically, but not necessarily meant to form a linear story from chapter to chapter, so enjoy each one individually for what it is.
1. 1 Puck and Tony

Tony walked back in to her apartment above the garage, of course Puck was there. He was still staring into the depths of the jar that contained his 'prize'. The strange stunning woman from the masquerade, which Tony had just gotten off the phone with, had held up her end of the bargain and delivered the source of magical energy that Puck had asked for. It came in a mysterious package in the middle of the night. The jar contained a heart over twice the size of a human's. It didn't beat, why would it? But energy seemed to pulse from it regardless.

"Puck, I did a bit more digging. You need to eat the heart whole and _raw_ if you want it to do you any good."

"I was kinda thinking that's what I had to do." The face he pulled showed it's what he didn't want to do, "I could get a surgeon to put it in my stomach and stitch me back up?"

"Good luck finding a doctor willing to do that." Sometimes Puck was brilliant, but not when it came to anything academic, "What if you used a shrinking rune on it? Or maybe a growth rune on yourself instead?"

Puck had been playing around more and more runes; his sketchbook was filling up quickly, "Good idea!" With no qualms at all he dove his hand into the jar, removed the heart, and scrawled some strange rune with a sharpie straight on the heart. Nothing happened. Puck looked disappointed, "Wait…" he plopped the heart back in the jar, "Of course it's not going to work. I don't have a source of magical energy, that's why we went through the trouble of getting this thing in the first place!"

Tony shrugged, "I don't know how runes work, let alone magic. And you're the one that wanted it, so buck up and eat your heart if you want your magic so bad."

Rather than getting offended, a mask of determination came over Puck's face, "Looks like we're doing this the hard way."

"Well, if you're going to eat it, eat it here, in case I need to drive you to the hospital or something." Something included having to kill him if worse came to worse.

"I'm gonna need a bucket…and a bib…"

Tony nodded curtly and ran down to the garage and grabbed one of the many five gallon buckets and blue mechanic's rags that are usually lying around a mechanic's workspace. There was an unspoken pact between the two. Puck knew Tony didn't trust anything magical or supernatural, yet she desired knowledge, and Tony knew Puck craved power at almost any cost. It wasn't something they argued about, it was just something that they each accepted in the other. All they could do was try and make sure the other didn't get caught, go crazy, killed, or any combination thereof.

When she returned, Puck was more deeply engrossed in the heart's energy than ever before. Tony set the bucket and rags down next to him, "Puck?"

He didn't look away from the heart in its jar, "I'm gonna need four candles, and some kindling."

"You aren't going to cook it are you?" Tony pulled out four of the candles she kept in case of power outages and some matches.

"No, no, no, no, no, I need to pray to Brigid first."

"Who's Brigid? Some new infatuation of yours?" Puck took the candles and matches, but seemed distant still, "Ha, yeah, kinda, but she ain't new by a long shot." With candles and matches in hand, Puck left the apartment, leaving Tony in the uneasy care of the heart.

He returned an hour later, empty-handed; with his face painted in markings of blood. Shirtless and shoeless, dew-wet grass stains on his knees and covered in a fine layer of earth, his lithe frame hunched over the bucket like a wild man, "Forget the bib. Let's do this."

Picking up the heart, he began to feast.

Tony was actually mildly shocked and confused by everything that seemed to be happening so fast now. It was only two months ago that they had encountered the homunculi, and now they were playing games for peoples' lives and sources of magical power with strange women and whatever powerful organization she was a part of at college masquerades, this was even overlooking all the crazy in between. Who was this Brigid? What had come over Puck? Either way, there was nothing she could do now but watch as one of her few and precious friends devoured a questionable heart from a surreptitious woman. Blood dripped down Puck's feral painted face and body accompanied by particularly juicy sounds of mastication. It would be enough to send anyone's breakfast back up the way it came. Tony just stood silently waiting. Car keys in one hand, phone in the other, and 9mm exposed on her belt. She could almost feel her heartbeat rising along with Puck's.

The minutes passed, and Puck continued to eat away at the heart with no signs of slowing down. When the last bite had disappeared, they were left with an unnatural amount of blood in the five-gallon bucket.

"Start drinking…"

Puck blew a raspberry, it was an obscene picture in his current state, "Screw that. Go grab an air pump, a funnel, and some rubber tubing."

Tony felt nervous about leaving him alone, but went back down to the garage and returned with the items. Puck had gathered a few things from around the apartment as well. He began to craft all the items into a makeshift I.V., as Tony watched him with the eyes of a hawk. While he was funneling the blood into the top of his contraption, Tony sanitized the needle, "How did you build this?"

"I MacGyver this shit!" He grinned, savage, through paint, dirt, and blood.

Puck tapped any air out of his I.V., and found a nice ripe vein. With the rest of the blood now flowing steadily down into his arm, Puck sat back down and exhaled, "I got this, go get some rest Tony."

"I don't think I could." Instead she pulled a chair up next to Puck and turned on the late night news. What was one more night without sleep? She'd just have nightmares any way.

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment.

"Hey, Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let me fall asleep, 'kay?"

"Of course Puck."


	2. 2 Insomnia

Tony still wasn't sleeping.

It was their third night in this shitty hotel in this town that barely deserved to be called a village. Mandy and Ingrid had gone back to school for the week, and Tony and Puck were staying on the hunt. Despite their dedication, they had seen neither head nor feather of the perverted bird-man. Honestly, the bird monster was the least of Tony's worries. The insomnia had stopped worrying her. After a couple months, she'd started to get used to it, but Puck's new magical abilities and behavior after snacking on that heart were disturbing, and the cherry on the cake was Matthias.

Matthias, that smug asshole shape-shifter from the masquerade a couple weeks ago who had escaped Tony's grasp. The maddening part was that he literally WAS in Tony's grasp, her hand around his throat. And now, as if some sort of sick punishment for letting him get away, she was seeing him everywhere.

The first day had been the most confusing. He first appeared while Tony was staked out by the town park. She'd even gone so far as to shoot him in the head with her hunting rifle. Shooting a firearm off within town limits, stupid. She could have ended their hunt before it had even begun with a stunt like that. She'd learned from the first instance. The second time that day, she'd tried to stab him. Both times he disappeared. After those encounters and a few more, Tony finally realized it was just in her head. She didn't know if that made her feel better or worse. She wasn't crazy though. Tony refused to be crazy. Somehow she was sure it was all Matthias's fault.

After the first day of sporadic encounters, Matthias's appearance and role in Tony's life escalated quickly. On day two, he hung around much closer and for longer periods of time. And today, day three, he's started talking to her, and boy did he have lots to say.

Matthias wasn't around at the moment, but Tony's insomnia was. The cheap digital clock on the bedside table read 3:12. Puck was passed out in his bed. He'd used more magic today, all to no avail. After eating 3 pizzas, a liter of pop, half a gallon of milk, the other half the hotel's vending machine, and the rest of Tony's sandwich he'd passed out cold. This seemed to be the normal reaction to Puck using any amount of magic.

Tony decided on a shower. With any luck, it would help her to get at least a few hours of sleep tonight.

Surprisingly, the shower was relaxing; the warm water over her body, the white noise of water running. Tony reached outside the curtain for a complimentary soap bar, and was immediately sent back to square one. Matthias was perched stoically on the toilet. A black dress shirt and pants held together by a rich red patterned vest and tie. Blond hair perfectly parted, and one leg crossed over the other, his immaculate image contrasted harshly with the tacky hotel bathroom. His sudden appearance nearly caused Tony to send the soap flying, but she did her best to ignore him, and went about her shower as normal.

Matthias's shadow shifted incrementally from the other side of the shower curtain, "You know, it's such a shame you bat for the other team. I mean that in multiple respects I would have you know. Sure your figure is a little boyish, but those long legs that can't seem to stop, and that exotic complexion. Mmm, yes, you certainly are worth a second look."

Tony dropped the soap this time. The shower got colder as Tony's anger burned hotter.

"But I'm not as shallow as all that. No, no, my dear. You have so much potential, such initiative. I just wish you'd stop with all this 'all monsters are evil twisted mockeries of life and deserve to be put out of their misery' nonsense. On the contrary, I think it's you that is miserable and twisted right about now. If not, you're going to be." Tony could sense that he was smirking, "You've got it all backwards dear. I've never felt miserable or twisted a day in my long life. Mine is a pure life. Whatever I want I go out and get it. What is it you want Antonia?"

Tony ripped open the shower curtain, soap aimed and ready, but Matthias had disappeared from his 'throne'.

The shower was pointless now, if anything, she felt worse than before. So Tony climbed out and dried off. In the mirror she examined her back. Big black and blue bruises were beginning to form across its entire expanse. The muscles and joints beneath the muscles had already stiffened up and become sore. Tony felt she'd gotten off easy for having fallen two and a half stories on to the hood of her car. She felt worse for her car actually.

"Tsk, Tsk. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." He was back. His face reflected murkily in the foggy mirror. Tony whipped around and hastily covered herself back up with her towel. There was no one behind her because she knew it was all in head, but his articulated voice persisted, and when Tony turned around, his reflection was still in the mirror, "Must we go through this awkward modesty? I am a shape-shifter after all. I've seen it all. I could shift into you right now and masturbate right here. You really have _nothing_ you can hide from me, physically or mentally."

"Humor me then." Tony immediately regretted saying anything. She knew all this was just in her head, but still, she'd never spoken to her hallucination before, and the moment she did she felt as if a threshold had been crossed and there was no going back.

"She speaks! You have no idea how remarkably dull it is to hold one-sided conversations. Let's take this opportunity, while you're feeling less bull headed, to have a productive conversation. Perhaps you'd even be willing to answer my question now? What is it that you want?"

Drying her hair, Tony went back to doing her best to ignore the hallucination. It was pointless, the dam had broken and there was no putting the pieces back together.

"Don't ignore me now Antonia, I thought we were making progress. Please share with me. I always put forth my best efforts to share _everything_ with you. Now tell me, what it is you want."

Tony turned around, and he was standing there smiling, "I want you to leave me the fuck alone."

The smile widened, "I'm sorry dear, but you're in this for the long haul. Now go and get some sleep"

Tony blinked and he was gone. She felt that maybe she should cry, but honestly she couldn't remember the last time she had cried, and she was just too damn tired to care. She finished in the bathroom and lay awake in bed until the sun was up, waiting for Puck to wake up and help keep her mind from devouring itself.


	3. 3 Crows

The crows were everywhere.

They were north of that tiny town in a forest in the middle of a ravine being attacked by the bird monster and his endless murder of crows. They knew now that it was a spirit, and they also knew where its locus was. Now if only they could destroy the damn thing.

Since Mandy and Ingrid weren't with them, Tony and Puck had called backup.

Tony called The Ashwood Abbey first, and Hellheim answered. Hellheim was a seven-foot tall wall of Nordic muscle. His long blond hair, braided beard, and blue tattoos that covered his face and body only added to his intimidation factor. When Hellheim had showed up in his Ford 4x4 with the works, fog lamps, hitch, reinforced grill, and a winch, Puck wanted to know who this guy was.

Tony evaded the question. She wanted to tell Puck everything. That the woman who initiated 'the game' at the masquerade and tipped them off to the shape-shifter was named Emilia and she was part of a guild of hunters called The Ashwood Abbey, and that Tony was a part of this Abbey now. That's how the gang had gotten their new base of operations along with their 'starter pack', not to mention the spirit hunt they were on at this very moment. She wanted to tell Puck how much she distrusted this Abbey and how the way they hunted for fun and for sport was disgusting. But she'd been told not to tell anyone, and Tony didn't want to know what would happen if she broke that rule. They Abbey had power, she just didn't know how much. Tony had been reluctant enough to even call The Abbey for help in the first place, but Hellheim was here now, and he was willing to help, so they'd take it.

After they filled Hellheim in on what had happened so far, the rest of the day was spent investigating. Hellheim said he was leaving for the north forest to do god knew what, while Puck and Tony stayed in town. They got all four of the kids names that were attacked by the bird man, and discovered that a boy had gone missing in the North woods nearly a year ago before the attacks, and that this little boy had been friends with all four of the attack victims. Not bad work for just the two of them.

All three of them met back up at the hotel room at dusk. Tony and Puck told Hellheim everything they'd learned about the children and the missing boy, and that they suspected it was some sort of ghost or spirit.

Hellheim nodded, then filled in the gaps with his thick northern accent, "They boy's not dead, and there's a big difference between ghosts and spirits, so you better know what it is you're going up against."

Puck was a little surprised that the boy was still alive, but kept rolling, "So that means it's not a ghost."

"A spirit then." Tony piped in, "How did you find all this out."

"Been talking with some contacts."

"In a forest?" Puck's sass was still bigger than his appetite, but Hellheim's presence was larger still. He just looked at Puck and the question dissolved.

Tony was willing to look over Hellheim's mysteriousness as long as he was willing to help, "You said ghosts and spirits were different. Does that mean the usual things like salt and exorcisms don't work on them?"

"No. Spirits come from the Earth, they aren't connected to an anchor like a ghost, and aren't the souls of humans, so they lack the same weaknesses."

"Than what are they weak to?" Tony was just interested in killing this thing and stop the attacks.

Puck was getting excited, "Yeah, will my magic work?"

"Yes, magic works against them, along with imbued or blessed weapons. I don't use blessed weapons, so I couldn't tell you how well they work. Also, do you have any back up?"

Puck was put off a little, "Well Mandy and Ingrid are back at school. There's really no one else. Is there?"

Maybe there was, Tony had an idea, "I can make a call. But first, how do we make or get an imbued weapon?"

Hellheim headed to the door, "You make your call first." and left.

Puck watched him leave, "Well okay then. Where'd you find this guy again? Who ya gonna call?"

"Gunter."

All excitement from Puck was gone, "Oh come on! That guy? He's not gonna be able to help!"

"He came in handy at the masquerade." Tony was already dialing his number, "Hey, Gunter? It's Tony…from the dance…Yeah, I was the tall one with the hot chick. Her name's Mandy, Gunter…No, she's not here, but I've got the second best thing…No Gunter; I don't have two Mandys. How does more money sound though? We're up North…its not another 'game', Gunter. No, you don't need your…" He'd hung up. Gunter wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but he came in handy. She just hoped he didn't get lost on the way up.

Puck was harrumphing, "Oh my god. Oh. My. God. _Two _Mandy's? Is he serious?! Why did you call him?"

Hellheim reentered the motel room, "You're going to need him." He walked over to Tony and handed her a sheathed knife, "That should come in handy."

Tony pulled the knife out. If was handmade, but solid and durable. She could tell there something special about it, she just wasn't sure what, "How does it work?"

Hellheim gave a little smile, "I'll let you figure that out."

An hour later, the three of them were puzzled to hear knocking coming down the hotel. Tony and Puck poked their heads outside and saw Gunter knocking on each successive door looking for them. Puck looked at Tony, "Oh my God."

"Gunter. Gunter! We're down here." The big dork came running down the sidewalk. He was wearing a muscle shirt and jeans, and under one arm…the horse mask. "Gunter, why did you bring the horse mask from the masquerade?"

"You said it was another game right? I thought we were super heroes?"

Puck was much louder this time, "OH MY GOD! He thinks we're superheroes!?"

Gunter didn't seem to notice, "He little guy, where's your sister?"

"Mandy is NOT my sister, and we are NOT superheroes! AND, my name's PUCK!"

Gunter wasn't even in the hotel room yet and they were bickering. Tony wasn't very good at diffusing these kinds of situations, maybe even a little blunt. She pulled her gun out at gave it a good click. Both of the boys shut up immediately, "Get inside." They complied quickly.

Once Gunter was inside the motel room, it was impossible for him to ignore Hellheim. Now Gunter was a very tall, very muscular guy, that liked to think he was the end all be all, so when Hellheim's innate aura shadowed his, there was an immediate pissing contest. At least to Gunter there was, "Are those real?" Gunter motioned to Hellheim's arms, "I'm gonna arm wrestle you."

Hellheim rolled his eyes. He seemed to know that nothing would get done until Gunter was put in his place. They sat down at the rickety kitchen table and locked hands. Gunter appeared to be putting his all into it, but Tony could tell from Hellheim's face that he wasn't even trying. After a couple of seconds with the two of them locked in brawny combat, Hellheim dropped Gunter's hand to the table with ease.

Hellheim stood up, "It's time to work now."

"Dang it." Gunter shook his arm out, "Wait, I want a shield."

Puck was about to go off again, but than saw an opportunity for him to make stuff, that was always a tempting proposition to Puck, "What the hell do you want with a- Hey, if you go to the scrapyard and pick up some good metal, I can make you some sweet gear."

"Yeah, I can do that."

Gunter left and was back within 30 minutes with a car full of scrap metal. He and Puck immediately started brainstorming the 'sweet gear' they wanted to make. Puck also did his best to fill Gunter in on the situation.

Tony sat on her bed and looked the knife over. How did it work? After thirty minutes of fiddling with it, Tony had still gotten now where, while the boys on the other hand were starting to get along. Gunter had a new pair of metal spiked half hand gauntlets. Tony directed her pent up frustration at the knife. In a flash of light and heat, the blade flamed to light. It sent Tony's arm up in flames at the same time. Puck and Gunter started, but Tony remained calm and patted the flames out. Her arm was covered in first-degree burns, probably second degree in some places. She re-sheathed the knife, and bound up the particularly burnt parts of her arm. She was done with this, it was time to leave, "Alright, let's go. Lead the way Hellheim."

Hellheim nodded. He crawled into his Ford and led the way with Tony, Puck, and Gunter in Tony's 2004 Impala. They parked off a dirt road on the edge of the north woods. All four dove into the brush. Tony and Puck crept silently. The massive bodies of Gunter and Hellheim had a bit more trouble staying quiet. Hellheim told them that they needed to head two miles east, so they did.

Two miles later in the middle of that ravine, Hellheim had disappeared. Now Gunter had the raven spirit pinned, and Puck was barely conscious after having spent the rest of his magic into trying to blow up the locus.

Staggered back to her feat, Tony pulled out Hellheim's knife; time to give this bastard one last try. Tony poured every last ounce of willpower she had into the blade, it had to work. To her amazement it did. The knife began to glow as if it were being forged within a fire. Even better, the crows seemed to fear it, giving Tony a decently clear shot to the locus.

The locus, a small crow, was carved into a small alcove in the ravine face. It was now covered in cracks from Puck's explosion runes. Tony swung the knife into the stone with all her strength, but it wasn't enough. Her body and mind had taken too much. The glowing knife merely chipped the surface and faded out, or was that her vision? Tony fell backwards into unconsciousness. Even if the bird spirit killed her, she still felt a sort of satisfaction at getting the knife to work.

Tony woke up in the hotel room. Puck was in his bed devouring any food within arms reach. Gunter and Hellheim were there to. She was exhausted, "What happened? How long was I out?"

Gunter answered the first half, "You've been out about a day I guess, but I won! Beat the shit out of that gross bird guy and then I beat the shit out of his precious little statue!"

Hellheim finished, "Yeah, turns out it was a minor god." Puck almost choked on his food, "Gunter here stumbled out of the forest with Puck on his back, and you and the missing kid in his arms. Looked like hell you did."

Tony was a little upset, "This thing was a fucking god and The-" Tony almost said The Abbey, but remembered herself, "You didn't think to mention it? And what's with you ditching?" Tony dragged herself out of bed and approached Hellheim, "Here's your knife."

"Didn't know it was a god until I checked it out. This was something you needed to do on your own. Besides," Hellheim took his knife back and smiled through his beard, "You did good."

Tony kept her face an emotionless mask like usual, but those words coming from Hellheim meant a lot, "Let's get the hell out of here guys."


	4. 4 One Second

**Tick**

Tony looked over at the clock waiting for the tock. The time was 03:42:16 A.M. Her insomnia had continued to worsen. It was to the point where she couldn't even guess whether she would fall asleep or not during the night. Even if she did fall asleep right this second, she'd be wide-awake by 06:00:00 A.M., feeling just as beat down.

Puck had snuck in to the apartment at 01:03:27 A.M. He insisted on picking the lock every time even though he knew where the spare key was. He told Tony that he 'Liked to stay in practice.' After he'd broken in, he closed the door silently behind him and relocked it. He raided Tony's kitchen doing his best not to disturb her. He had no clue that Tony had been suffering from insomnia. How she had kept it a secret from him this long was a just as much a mystery to Tony as the insomnia itself. She listened to him eat. When he was done he crashed on the couch. By 01:30:05 A.M. he was snoring softly.

When Tony had experienced her first couple nights of restlessness and nightmares, she tried different methods of relaxation. Small home remedies like tea and honey. When those didn't work, the remedies escalated up until she eventually found someone that could supply her with prescription sleeping aids. None of these had worked in the slightest. After all the failed attempts of trying to get to sleep, Tony decided she'd try to work it to her favor, maybe get some work done since she wasn't sleeping anyway. Perhaps it was best not to fight it? That had been another pointless venture. Even though she wasn't asleep, her brain still seemed to be shut down. She couldn't focus or remembering anything. She stopped trying after she'd woken up screaming down in the garage with a welder running.

Why was this happening to her? Sure, a lot of scarring life changing shit had happened in the past couple months. Nightmares were becoming a regular thing when she did sleep. But she could handle all that as long as she could just get a little shuteye. Visions of terror seemed better than the perpetual lifeless body and foggy mind she had to live with now. Was this some kind of punishment? It certainly felt like it. The nights dragged on into eternities. One second became an hour, a whole night a lifetime.

Back at square one, Tony had surrendered completely to the Insomnia. All she could do was lie in bed and wait. Wait to either fall asleep for a couple of desperate hours or watch both her mind and the sky turn grey with the approaching sun.

**Tock**


	5. 5 Matthias

It was your standard abandoned warehouse. Tony crouched outside it trying to get a sense of what could be in there. At the moment it looked like not much.

After their adventure in Montana and the spiritual realm, Tony had returned to a message from the Abbey. They had a lead on Matthias. Tony's need to find him and end this was reaching desperate levels. While stuck in the spirit world, she had seen neither hide nor hair of Matthias. The reprieve from his torturous mind games was absolute heaven, even if the trip itself had not been. But of course, once they were back in the real world, he had been there waiting with that dastardly smile on his face. He must have missed her too, because the torment was now incessant.

According to the Ashwood, Matthias had been flaunting his whereabouts, not ultimately surprising. It was either a trap, or he'd skipped town since. The lead _was _a couple of days old. He was reportedly in an old warehouse in the industrial district of Rapid City.

Back outside said warehouse, Tony was fed up with waiting. Knowing that no one was around to hear, she walked up to the front entrance and blew the lock off with her 9 mm.

The warehouse was dark and empty, no surprise there. Tony flicked on her flashlight and kept her gun at the ready. She had come to talk with Matthias, but she wasn't going to be stupid about it. After Montana and the werewolves, she was beginning to see that not everything supernatural was inherently evil and out of place.

Dust motes filtered in through the windows and blanketed everything in age and neglect. Tony began to investigate. There were no signs anywhere that Matthias, or anyone else for that matter, had been here. When she was just about ready to call it quits, she spotted a manhole sized grate half covered by splintered palettes. It was worth a shot. She shoved the palettes out of the way and hauled the cover off. A black shaft led straight down. Tony skin crawled at the terribly confined space, but into it she descended. There was nothing else she could have done.

The darkness swallowed her up. She had to focus on either the empty space above her or the beam of her flashlight to keep herself from having a claustrophobic attack. . When she reached the bottom the space opened up. Tony exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. A sweep with the flashlight divulged what looked like an old subway tube. The walls were old brick and rusty exposed pipe with crumbling mortar and rat dropping holding them together. Off the edge of the walkway, the old railway glinted dully, and across the gap, and identical walkway.

There were still no signs of life, but with her breathing calming down, Tony began to make out the sound of something familiar coming from down the tunnel to her left. It was the hum of a motor. She still kept the flashlight low and gun at the ready as she crept along the walls of this forgotten thoroughfare. Around a slight bend in the tunnel, Tony found a portable generator chugging along with a light on top of it. She turned off the flashlight and replaced it in her hand with a wheel lock pistol loaded with one silver bullet.

Even though Tony had first met Matthias under the assumption that he was a shape shifter, she'd quickly begun to suspect he was something else entirely. No matter what he was, it couldn't hurt to be prepared.

Tony examined the generator; it was in fine working condition. Its cable wound through the layers of dirt and grime like a snake trying to escape this grimy hall. It had succeeded, because the end disappeared beneath a metal door. What to do now?

Nothing she did would give her the upper hand. In fact, all of them put her at an even greater disadvantage. It wasn't like Tony hadn't been in shitty situations before. She picked the safest choice; make him come to her.

Tony tucked the wheel lock away and returned the flashlight to her hand; she didn't turn it on though. Instead she pointed it towards the door ready to spotlight anyone trying to come through it. With the 9 mm she flicked the generator off and was left in smothering darkness. The gun swiftly joined the dark flashlight with its vigil on the door. The comforting sounds of a motor were no longer there to keep her company, and she began to sweat. She stood in that black oppressive air, her ears strained towards the door for any signs of activity. She could feel her breath catching in her throat, but she refused to make a sound.

After counting out five minutes Tony called out, "Matthias, if you're in there, come out. I just want to talk." She almost didn't expect a response. He had either escaped by a back entrance or never been there in the first place.

Tony nearly vomited as his smooth voice floated out of the darkness _behind_ her. "About what my dear?"

She didn't dare turn around; all of her attention needed to be on the door. It was all in her head anyway. Wasn't it? " About why you are doing this."

A soft chuckle, "I have plans, Antonia," She could feel his breath on the side of her neck, "and I like to keep myself entertained while I wait."

The gun and the now lit flashlight made an about face. A blank brick wall greeted them. A jolt of panic. His breath was still on her neck, and his whisper in her ear, "No matter how this ends, I will have gotten what I wanted."

"You want to end up dead!?" She whipped her attention back towards the door. It stood open now, just a crack, but that was all the invitation Tony needed. A sense of futility that she refused to acknowledge followed her through it.

Behind the door was a long hallway with lights strung overhead that would have been lit had the generator still been going. The dark narrow corridor almost caused another panic attack, but she swallowed it back down. This hallway was cleaner than the subway tunnel she'd just left, though still dusty and old. It ended in another thick metal door. The need to get out of this cramped hallway drove her almost as much as her determination to find Matthias.

The flashlight beam diffused out into a large open room. There was a table loaded haphazardly with papers and books at its center. Tony hugged the wall first before moving towards the table. It was full of nooks and crannies that Matthias could be hiding in. Instead of Matthias, her flashlight fell on bars. Everywhere along the wall, on the floor, suspended from the ceiling, in every shape and size, were cages. All of them lay empty. There were only two other doors tucked into the wall. Tony couldn't quite bring herself to enter those cramped spaces after her trek down the hallway. She went to the long table before her instead. The books strew across its length were on every occult topic possible.

"Welcome." His voice echoed throughout the room.

Tony made another sweep with her flashlight, and saw nothing. Whether it was in her head again or he was actually there, she didn't know.

"Matthias? Why don't you come out? I just want to talk."

"Oh really?" There was a clap and the lights flickered back on. Matthias strode casually out of one of the alcoves in front of Tony. He was dressed as usual in shoes that shone despite their surroundings, his black dress pants and button up shirt, all contained in a striking vest, and immaculate blonde hair, "And what was it you wanted to discuss?"

Tony kept her gun trained on the middle of his forehead, "You know."

He walked closer. His arms and hands were open and to the side in a motion of honest confusion. An act was all it was, "I'm afraid I really have no idea." A coy smile, "Now would you kindly put away your firearm? You're making my brother quite nervous."

A soft growl rolled out of the darkness behind Tony. She whipped around. Something massive thumped softly out of another alcove. Entering the light, it was revealed to be a creature Tony had never seen before. She didn't think anyone had seen a creature like this to be honest. It was what she assumed to be a chimera.

It was roughly the size of a bull, but the only other trait that it shared, beyond it's sheer size, was its hindquarters. Thick feline arms dominated the front half of the creature and paws with exposed claws the length of Tony's hand. Its head resembled something canine and was held low with teeth bared. Up its spine was a coarse mane that was erect with bristling anger. A lion's tale whipped back and forth behind it, and what looked like wings pulled tight against its body rustled and shifted. Tony held no illusions about fighting it and coming out on top. There were plenty of other cages too. No telling what other _family_ might show up for a 'reunion'.

Tony turned back around slowly. Both her hands were in the air, the gun and flashlight aimed pointless at the ceiling.

Matthias smiled and nodded. The growling stopped, but the intimidating presence of the chimera pressed at Tony's back. "Please, have a seat." He gave another nod to the cluttered table.

Tony sat down, and him across from her. Her back was still towards the chimera. Before anything else happened, she needed some confirmation. She laid the gun on the table in front of her, and slid her knife out. The growling behind her started up again, "If you don't mind…"

Matthias rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and extended it towards Tony. His face gave nothing away as she slid the knife across his arm and drew a thin line of blood. Tony cleaned off the knife and tucked it away while Matthias pulled out a silk handkerchief and pressed it to his arm.

He bled, but Tony still wasn't satisfied. This could all still be a projection from Matthias. He'd clap his hands again and she would be left alone in the dark talking to absolutely no one. No Matthias, no cages, no chimera, nothing. She was beginning to question everything's reality; the Ashwood Abbey, Matthias, even Puck. This was the torture she'd been living with for months, not even including the insomnia and nightmares. There was nothing's existence that didn't she question more than her own though. She'd thought of killing herself. She was thinking about it right now. The gun was right there on the table. It would be so much easier than trying to kill Matthias, if he was even there in the first place. Such an efficient way of stopping him; whatever he had planned for her, or whatever sick enjoyment he got from tormenting her would be impossible in her absence, and she could finally sleep; sleep forever…

Matthias snapped her back to her warped reality, "To what do I owe the visit?"

It took a surprising amount of effort not to shoot herself right then, "I want you to leave me alone."

"What makes you so sure it's my doing?"

Her trigger finger itched. She might have been breaking internally, and maybe Matthias could see that, but she would give nothing away on the surface. She was forcing herself to continue believing in the fact that it really was Matthias's fault and that he had the power to end it.

"Say I could help you? What would I get in return? I'm not going to give you something for nothing."

It might have been a stretch, but Tony took that as a confession, "How about I don't kill you?"

He laughed in the face of his own death, but stared down Tony with cold eyes "That hardly seems fair, and you don't appear to be in the best position for making such brash proposals my dear. Let me know when you think of a better bargaining chip. Until then, I'm having far too much fun."

Tony's mind raced, she was here, she had to be able to do something. Amid the many books and papers before them, she glimpsed familiar sheets written in Arabic, "You've been doing some interesting reading, Matthias. What have you been up to?"

"Research, you'll find out soon enough." He knew she was trying to buy time, to weed out any scrap of information she could. He wasn't going to give it.

The gun still lay on the table, but the part of her that wanted to understand, escape, or better yet, control the machine she was a part in refused to give up, "We have a few of our own."

Matthias looked sarcastically thoughtful, "Better, but still a poor bargain. These are the only pages I need, and I'm quite finished with them. Now, if you're finished, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave. I do love the visit though, we never seem to chat anymore"

She had nothing. Over and over in head she kept repeating it. One of those repetitions softly escaped, "I have nothing." With that, a floodgate was opened, "I have _nothing._ I'm only human, and weak. Why does anyone want anything with me? I'm just trying to protect my friends, but they seem to be able to do a better job of it than I can, and at the same time I'm watching them destroy themselves. Spirits, werewolves, magic, _hearts. _I'm terrified I'm going to have to kill my best friend, and that I'm going insane. That I'm sitting her alone in the dark talking to myself." With that Tony grabbed the gun off the table and pressed it into her temple.

For the first time, the mask of relaxed smugness left Matthias's face and was replaced with… annoyance, anger? He stood up abruptly. The chair he was in toppled to the ground. The chimera let out a snarl.

"Are those the least of your worries, Antonia? Have you watched the community you were raised in be slaughtered before you? Had your family try to kill you? Be forced to take the life of your love? Those are certainly the most insubstantial of my woes. You have endured _nothing_."

Tony's grip tightened on the gun. The cold metal burned into the side of her head along with his words, "Is that what you're trying to do? Make me endure something? What do you want from me!?"

With the last elevated tone of 'me', Matthias's face fell, the chimera went silent, and all was still. In that moment, Tony feared all her nightmares were true.

Suddenly, where there had been a haughty antagonist, was a tired and worn out man, "Put the gun down."

Stunned by the sudden change, she serenely put the gun away and followed him as he walked back towards the door. They traveled in silence, back through the now illuminated hallway to the main subway tube. He took Tony deeper into the bowels of the abandoned metro system. As they walked, their surroundings grew increasingly dilapidated. Bricks were now cracked and missing from the wall. Chunks of the ceiling had fallen out and created treacherous blankets of debris to walk over. Finally, they came upon a cave in. There was an opening about the size of door through the brick and dirt wall. Matthias walked through it.

On the other side, Matthias was standing at a platform looking across the tracks. Tony stopped next to him and tracked his gaze. Across from them was the most massive and intricate rune Tony had ever seen. Its diameter was floor to ceiling. The myriad of ornate and elaborate details boggled both the mind and the eye into thinking that the entire surface of the wall was twisting and warping itself. Perhaps it actually was moving.

Tony was nearly hypnotized. She had to force herself to focus, "What is it?"

"A seal."

She tore her gaze away from the whirlpool of red ink. Matthias stood solemnly next to her. He looked even more haggard in the dim lighting of the subway station, as if he hadn't slept in as long as Tony. She didn't care, "What is it sealing?"

"Whatever they are, and wherever they come from."

Tony was so confused. She could feel the ground beneath her crumbling. A part of her still warned her that she could still be getting played. But whether Matthias lied about it or not, that rune was no joke. She wished that she could read people better, maybe then she could figure out if Matthias was dishonest or not, but frankly, a gun always seemed to work a bit faster. Luckily for her, she happened to have two, and he no longer had his 'brother' around for protection. She leveled the wheel lock at his temple, "_Who are you?_"

He didn't even look over. He just kept staring off into the seal, "My name is Matthias Blackwell. I am 674 years old."

"Why are you doing this?"

He finally looked over at Tony. He then closed his tired eyes, sighed, and shrugged.

His shrug seemed to be slipping of the last shred of sanity Tony was holding on to right now. Her hand began to tremble on the gun. Just like before, when she sat with the gun to her head, she thought she had a chance to end it, end her torture, stop whatever it was Matthias had planned. She couldn't. She pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed by his head and cracked into a wall. Dust plumed up from its impact. It dawned her that even if the bullet had hit him, that she still couldn't stop it. Whatever _it_ was. This engine that churned along, grinding her rationality into its gears. She doubted now that even her death would change anything.

Matthias slowly began to walk away from Tony towards the opening in the rubble. He was done, Tony realized she should be too, but the dam had broken and the water behind was flooding out. She knew it wouldn't change a thing, but she shouted desperately at him nonetheless, "No! NO! YOU DO NOT GET TO WALK AWAY. YOU ARE THE ONE THAT HAS TORTURED ME FOR WEEKS, EVER SINCE THE MASQUERADE. _YOU _ARE THE BAD GUY. NOTHING MAKES SENSE ANYMORE, AND I DON'T CARE. I JUST WANT YOU TO MAKE ME HATE YOU AGAIN SO I CAN FINALLY KILL YOU AND PUT AN END TO ALL THIS!"

He never stopped to look at her, just faded into the gloom.

Tony collapsed on the ground, alone in the dark.


	6. 6 TOD

T.O.D. 17:00:00

The weather outside was absolutely flawless. Blue skies were being suffocated by puffy white clouds. They scooted merrily along thanks to the gentle breeze that perfectly complimented the bright sun. Some birds sung merrily away. The dirge of the neighbor's lawnmower nearly drowned them out as it reaped the lawn. The scent of chlorophyll, nature's blood, hung in the air.

It was all happening around Tony. She stared blankly out the open window. She was mentally checking off the list in her head.

Garage work: Done.

Tidy up garage: Done.

Clean apartment: Done

Lock up: Done

Pay Bills: Done

Leave Puck a Message: Done. Idiot never answered his phone.

Tony could and would never stop being thorough and mechanical. She knew that even after she died she would systematically decay into nothing and become a part of nature's system as efficiently as a cog into clockwork.

She stood up from the edge of her bed and closed the window.


	7. 7 Precipice

The first glimpse of it had been up North against the lesser god spirit. In Montana it had fully emerged, and Tony had been teetering on the edge of it for weeks. Before her last encounter with Matthias she'd begun slipping into it, but now that she knew what was at the bottom, she let herself fall, fall into the precipice.

Her entire life had been spent watching the world, discovering how it works, and seeing how all the pieces fit together. It was a machine.

When Mandy, Connie, Puck, and Tony had encountered the homunculi their first terrified night on that lonely dirt road, Tony knew that those creatures did not belong in her nicely running and well maintained machine. The line between fitting into the device and not belonging had become fuzzier and fuzzier after that. Until it dawned on her; Tony had only ever spent her life viewing one part of the machine. It was like only working on the transmission and ignoring the rest of the vehicle. Though the transmission is a system in and of itself, it belongs to a larger structure. That was Tony's world before, just the transmission. Now, she was beginning to understand that there was a whole other contraption around it that she needed to understand, to maintain, and fix when necessary like any good mechanic should.

The cliff that she had been hanging on to for so long now seemed so silly and childish, she let go completely and fell, fell into that deep dark pit not knowing what lay at the bottom and not caring.


	8. 8 Awakening

{Author's Note: This is the takes place after and recaps the finale of the first arc.}

Life violently forced its way back into Tony's body. It was an invasive fire that burned through her veins. She didn't want it there. She wanted to return to the quiet cool place she had just come from. She tried to expel it, but succeeded in only coughing up dead black blood.

It was the middle of the night, yet every street lamp seemed to sear her freshly resurrected optic nerves. As her eyes slowly adjusted back to looking at vibrant life and intense matter, she could feel the last of her body, internally and externally, crawl back together to form a whole being once more.

She finally focused on the shadowed figures of Ingrid and Mandy looking down on her. Their faces were anxious and bloody. What a waste of one of Ingrid's phoenix potions. How selfish of them, a fat lot of good Tony had done them anyway. She wanted to go back. Sure she was alive, but was she living? She could feel a breach opening up between her and her friends; between her the rest of the world, could they even be called 'friends' anymore? It was a detachment that came from being shown the truth.

So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. They'd arrived in Rapid City with the knowledge that Matthias intended to summon a Shoggoth during the Winter Solstice. They'd made their preparations, and of course he had made his. It wasn't until Matthias's blood was being used as a key that Tony realized just how perfectly he'd strung her out and set her up. She never questioned her actions until the trigger had been pulled and the Shoggoth was crawling out of the vacuous maw that had once been the runes. Everything was downhill after that. The last thing Tony remembered doing of her own free will was walking into the Shoggoth with Puck's runes burning on her skin. Her memories started up again with the Shoggoth inside her but with no control. She recalled looking through her own eyes, like windows, down at Puck's mangled body. His left leg was missing at the knee. He was lying prone on the ground with Tony's gun quivering in his hands, and face twisted in pain and sorrow. He had whispering to her, "We did it Tony." In a twisted way they had. Using Tony as a vessel to contain the Shoggoth as a last resort had worked, but with black ink flowing from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, it looked as if the insatiable appetite of the Shoggoth had consumed Tony's very soul. But she was still there, and could only experience, helplessly, the feeling of Puck's neck crunching beneath her boot, and then the explosive tearing pain of being riddled with countless bullets once the Shoggoth had piloted her body out of the subway and into the waiting arms of Pentax.

Tony's memories past dying were hazy. Vague dream like wisps of a still place devoid of color and life and filled with raw material and somber souls were all she had. The longer her heart continued pumping oxygen through her reanimated brain, the more came back to her. She could recall swimming through an icy river that had frozen every regret she had had and swept them away with part of her soul. Then there was running. Running through an unnatural fog towards a dark tower and being chased by the entropy spirit that Mandy had once bound to a bone saw. In that place of death and decay is had become a truly fearsome predator. It was only now that Tony wasn't bleeding from its wounds that she wondered how it had come to be there. She'd just barely beaten the spirit to the tower, and was shocked again to find Matthias waiting for her inside. Another mystery. He'd told her the Shoggoth was coming for her. He said he was there to help, that she could simultaneously climb the tower and lock the door behind her if she could complete the challenges. Loath as she had been to listen to him, she could feel how true his words were.

The challenges were a different kind of hell, how she came out alive was just one more enigma, but she'd done it. She'd climbed the tower and sealed the door with the spirit of entropy, the Shoggoth, and Matthias behind it, and on the other side was a figure.

Yes, that figure, towering and dominating, as sexless and inescapable as death, dressed in black robes, sitting in a throne a top a tower, ITS tower; ITS domain. All that mattered was that being. This was the most intense memory. She had offered herself up at its feet, and been accepted. She had given herself over to it; let its deathly hand inscribe her name on the tower. For this, she was given knowledge, the enlightenment that she so craved. She was shown how the last five months of her life had all been a lesson, and. She was aware now of the machine, and how the pieces were put together. There was still so much to learn, and she was ready to dedicate her life to it with no regret behind her or in front of her. She had work to do, so many things to fix, and top of the list was Puck and Pentax. She couldn't do her work from that realm though, no matter how desperately she wanted to stay by her dark tutor's side and learn the universe's secret. So she'd woken up…

Tony slowly lifted her body off the pavement. Mandy and Ingrid immediately backed away. They didn't touch her. Her muscles were unsure of themselves, and numb from the cold, but she refused to let herself collapse back into the swath of her own blood, mixed with the Shoggoth's black ooze, that had been her death bed. On her feet now, she looked down at her clothes, completely tattered with bullet holes, blood, and more Shoggoth.

She began to put one foot in front of the other. She wasn't followed, and after the long night, she had left everything behind.


	9. To Puck

{Author's note: A letter that Tony wrote nearly four years ago after Puck's death and her Awakening. It keeps her focused and driven over the next four years as she exhausts every plan to find Puck as well as work with Hellheim, and throwing wrenches into Pentex's plans wherever she can. She is just "Tony" no, no other name or identification, a matter mage dabbling in death, space, and life. The two pieces of her missing soul have led to an emotional detachment and lack of regret. Over these four years, the existence of ghosts and psychics are also discovered.}

_To Puck, _

_ You'll never read this, but it needs to be written. _

_ I guess I should apologize first, but I don't know for what. A lot has happened to us, and a lot of it's been my fault, but I don't care anymore. That kind of defeats the purpose of apologizing. You need to mean it. I don't. _

_ It's because it was all a lesson. For all of us or just me, I don't know, but I learned it. I know what needs to be done, but there's so much of it, and I don't think I can do it alone. . _

_ I see so much Puck, and I have to decide whether it needs fixing or not. There is so much in this world that is broken. I've focused on Pentex because I always find myself being led back to them. They are trying to break free of this machine and control, to warp it and twist it to their own desires. That's not how it works. They're only breaking it. They're the reason why you're broken as well. _

_ Are you starting to see what I'm talking about? I need tools if I want to fix anything, I've been working with what I have, but __**I need a tool**__. Just one. That's you Puck, but I need to fix you first. _

_ So that's what I've been doing, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to find you and you get you back, because a tool is just as useless without a mechanic to use it. Maybe I am just trying to use you, and I can't apologize again, because I don't care. You are the closest thing I could ever call a friend. You are familiar and comfortable, and maybe that's all friends are, people that you're comfortable around. _

_ Together we can make this world into something that actually works. Starting with Pentex._


End file.
